Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Hi Everyone! Thank you for all the kind comments you been sending on the chair slipcover. Sorry this post is late, I was out of town for a few days and haven't been near a computer!

I'm back home now and will finally share with you how I made the slipcover for my chair. It all started with this post from Apartment Therapy on slipcovering a reading chair. The chair was similar to mine and it gave me inspiration to finally do something about my "elephant in the corner".

And I did a lot of searching for fabric. Some of you have asked where I found such a deal on the Dwell fabric. I found it on this website: http://www.onlinefabricstore.net/ in case you wanted to get some of your own. Someone also asked if the fabric is durable. It's an upholster grade fabric and is made of cotton. I haven't had it that long so I'm hoping it lasts a long time and continues to look good. I'll probably spray some Scotch Guard on it to protect it from stains. I'll give you any updates as they come!

Ok, enough talk down to business!I started with some old sheets I bought at Goodwill. I wanted to make a templates to use for cutting out my nice fabric. Since I'm a first time slipcover-er I didn't want to waste precious fabric with mess ups.

I cut large rectangles out, then fit them snuggly around each section of the chair, pinning as I went. I wanted the original shape of the chair to show through so I pinned as closely as I could around the edges.

After I did that I trimmed any extra fabric edges to get about a 1.5" seam allowance I would to for my templates. I marked the templates so I would remember where each one was supposed to go.

I then used my templates to cut my Dwell fabric out. Using the sheet templates allowed me to line up the pattern how I wanted.

Then I repinned my new fabric templates inside out on my chair to get my slipcover shape.

Then sewed the whole thing up. It was a little cumbersome with all the fabric laying everywhere but I was afraid to unpin anything and loose my shape.

After I sewed it all up I refitted it on the chair to see how it fit. I pulled out a few seams that could use some refitting and stitched up a few spots that I had trouble getting the first time around.

The arm for example I pinned again and resewed.

Then is was time for the cushion, I thought that since I have done a few pillows in the past this would be easy. But it was time consuming and hard.

I traced the shape of the cushion onto the fabric leaving a 1.5" seam allowance.

To get the fabric allowance for the middle cushion thickness I used a piece of string and ran it all along the edge. Then laid it out on the fabric, measured a few inches on either side, and cut it out.

The harded part was sewing along the T-Shape of the cushion. Other than that it wasn't bad.

I then pinned the fabric around my cushion in the same fashion as I did the chair, leaving an opening in the back.

Once I finally finished sewing (I've never sewed this much in my whole life!) I got to work on the bottom. First I cut off the outdated skirt.

Originally I was going to staple the fabric to the underside of the chair to give it a more upholstered feel. But in the end I just used pins to adhere it so I can take the slipcover off whenever it needs cleaning.

Slipcover before skirt tucked under

Though the pictures don't show it I ended up sewing a piece for underneath the cushion using some leftover sheet fabric.

Then I was all done!

I hope this has been helpful and gives anyone who was thinking of trying this themselves some courage. You can do it!

Read more at http://diyshowoff.com/2013/08/15/before-and-after-diy-contest/#DlHqDqOhFOFmE5zd.99

This looks so fabulous. Did you pay attention to how the fabric would go or just wing it? I would love to do something like this, I just fear that if I did the pattern would go three different directions, haha.

Also if the cushion ever gets stained, a solid color would look fabulous as the cushion.

It's so strange that I just randomly came across your post in my reader today. I have this really great mid century chair in my living room that is in DIRE need of re-covering, but I've been waaaay too chicken to attempt it! Thanks so much for showing us how you did it! I'm amazed how great your chair turned out considering you have never done it before - it looks so great! I'm still pretty scared about attempting my chair, but I think I'll give it a go now!

Terrific post! You did a great job, the chair looks like a brand new one. I love your instructions even I think I could follow them with some success. I have a sofa that badly needs a new slipcover and I have a new sewing machine.. maybe, just maybe they will meet.I love your blog. Thanks,Kathy

I did all the same steps to make a slip cover for a chair of my own very similar to this...and I must say mine didn't turn out nearly as great as this! Suffice it to say, the chair's in hiding and the slipcover will probably be cut apart and repurposed! LOL!

Wow! This came out fabulous. I have a few pieces of furniture that need reupholstering, but I've been too scared. Thanks for sharing this method. I think using the sheets first will make me brave enough to try!

Nice job. Your post really helped me out. I can sew, but have never attempted a slip cover and after my dogs and three teenage boys used the chair it definitely needs some TLC. I'm going to attempt my chair and a half. Thanks again from one budget minded person to another.

Hi Rachel, I found your post on Hometalk, and I wanted to stop by and tell you that your chair looks amazing. I love that fabric and the style in which you did it. I can't believe it's only a slip cover!! I have a few chairs I need to do this to, so I'll be back to follow this tutorial. Thanks for sharing!